South Korea lifted the travel ban that it had imposed on a Japanese journalist last August, ostensibly for reporting unsubstantiated rumors about South Korean President Park Geun-hye regarding her behavior in the hours following the tragic ferry disaster one year ago. 

The Sewol ferry capsized and sunk on 16 April 2014, killing 297 people including a large number of high school students.  The captain was found guilty of homicide and negligence, and he as well as several other crewmembers were sentenced to prison.

The South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo originally reported the rumors “about a relationship between the president and a man” said to be married at the time.  Soon, the rest of the country’s media picked it up.  Tatsuya Kato of the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun then reported on the controversy swirling through the South Korea media.

South Korea’s justice minister had barred Kato from leaving the country since last August.  The ministry renewed the travel ban eight times, most recently for a period of three months that ends tomorrow.

Kato was not placed under arrest, but has been on trial on charges of defaming president Park.  The journalist has pleaded not guilty.  A verdict could take several months.  The Korean papers were not targeted for legal action.